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Cannibalism is a good analogy for meat-eating. According to
paleontologist Steven Jay Gould, early British explorers in Africa
once captured a Hotentot woman (writing from memory here). Hotentot
women have a distinctive racial feature: a significant amount of
adipose tissue on the buttocks of the females (enough to set them
apart, apparently, from merely obese women). Because this made their
captive distinct from women they knew, and because the captive only
spoke gibberish (that is, not English), they cooked and ate her as
bush meat. (Atypically for me I haven't verified this incident; I
only remember it from one of Gould's books.) Their criteria for meat
was: not like us.
The Aztecs were less picky; they enjoyed the taste of human
flesh. It was not, as is often assumed, merely a matter of religious
ritual; they had written recipes on the cooking of such dishes as
Human Flesh with Lima Beans. Of course, if we speak of superior and
inferior proteins - plant proteins often pronounced inferior because
animal proteins are more "available" - then human protein is the
best of all and the easiest to digest. But readers of the China Study
know that it is, in fact the availability of animal protein, that is,
its similarity to our own, that makes it so dangerous to us.
I'm not sure how much of an impact it makes on animal
agriculture to select vegetarian items from menus with meat in a
restaurant that advertises "Vegetarian Entrées and Daily Carnivore
Specials." I somehow doubt their meat orders are affected at all
(until there are lots more of us). I would like to see us have as many
events as possible at purely vegetarian restaurants. Happily, there is
one in Knoxville now, The Glowing Body, with, reportedly, another on
the way. And they need our business.
As to your comment "they busily make most of
the products sold in Wal Mart and Target and elsewhere in the US
that you consume greedily as you are busy flaring
up about the vegetarian / nonvegetarian content of Knox
restaurant menus," you don't know anything about what products I
buy or how greedy I am. I haven't shopped at Walmart in years - I
suspect that's true of many or most on this list, but I don't
know, either - and am really not much of a consumer of manufactured
products. And I don't see any reason we shouldn't "flare up"
(your words) about restaurant menus; gradually changing those menus is
a big part of the purpose of vegetarian organizations. And, to that
extent, I think we've been successful.
Yes, slavery goes on; there are, in fact, more slaves in the
world than ever before, maybe as many as 27,000,000, a disgrace to
humanity. But I don't know what that has to do with vegetarianism.
If someone comes here from Nashville to join us it would be because
they feel the need to associate with people who have gained important
insights into the critical place of our diet in a compassionate and
sustainable world. The "unfortunate reality under [our] nose" is
that meat production contributes more to global warming than does
transportation in all its forms. We are rapidly moving toward a world
where many of those "monkey-eating" children won't be able to
survive at all. I think that's worth flaring up about.
Yours truly,
John Mayer
At 1:26 PM -0800 1/10/09, Guy Wilson wrote:
Though Bruce has a point, I think you guys need to lighten up a little, especially on your vegetarian apologetics response. Who cares, and why are they spending energy on that? Twenty years ago vacations to Indonesia were popular from Europe and the US that included interviews with living admitted well-documented cannibals, who described the sweet taste of roasted, deep fried, or boiled human flesh that they had enjoyed routinely, all prior to the Indonesian government's purportedly effective suppression of cannibalism beyond the western mountains in the two decades preceding that. Especially popular was discussion through an interpreter with those old folks who had been fond of specialty foods like "pot-boiled thigh of missionary." Lets assume based on the Indonesian government's spun propaganda that Chrysler SUVs are NOT really made by cannibals today, because today Indonesian autoworkers "eat monkeys, not missionaries." Let's assume that's really true. Everyone still agrees that those same cannibals and their offspring are driving rare species of monkeys to extinction by eating them for their food as they busily make most of the products sold in Wal Mart and Target and elsewhere in the US that you consume greedily as you are busy flaring up about the vegetarian / nonvegetarian content of Knox restaurant menus. We are a non-manufacturing information-based economy embracing globalization that is maximizing permissible discharges while minimizing labor via postmodern pseudoslavery of children in developing nations. In parts of Asia in 2009, if you can catch an eight-year old monkey-eating child in a net, you can put her to work in a slave factory making products for US consumption. This is progress. Cannibalism is no longer embraced on paper by any government actively participating in globalization through the World Bank, but beyond that, the rules of consumption are still quite limited, and WE are responsible for our own consumption and the practices of supported cultures, but we are too focused on micro-issues like menus to see the global trends-- now THAT's funny! Don't take this observation too seriously; It is merely intended to point to unfortunate reality that is under your nose. Anyway, am I to assume people in Nashville drive all the way to Knoxiousville just to eat, or is it just to experience our "upwind valley effect" exhaust-fume and TVA-discharge induced high that we get from our extremely poor quality breathing air that is so advertised by EPA? As EPA says on their website, quality of air is quality of life!
--- On Thu, 1/8/09, Viveca Park <vivecapark@...> wrote:
From: Viveca Park <vivecapark@...>
Subject: Re: [Vegetarian Society of East TN] Re: VSET Social on Wed. Jan 14th
To: Vegetarian_Society_of_East_TN@yahoogroups.com, "Laura Broderick" <laurabroderick@...>
Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 10:54 PM
Sorry about that. I have to take the blame for posting the menu to the website. It was sent to me with information to post on the website for the dinner social. I wasn't thinking and posted the entire menu.I have since modified it and (hopefully) removed all traces of meat products.Vivecawebmaster
----- Original Message -----From: Bruce CostainTo: Laura Broderick ; Vegetarian_Society_ of_East_TN@ yahoogroups. comSent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 9:55 PMSubject: [Vegetarian Society of East TN] Re: VSET Social on Wed. Jan 14thDear Colleagues in Non-harming and Health,
Please explain why a vegetarian society would list menu items that involve animal flesh? I can be flexible and understand folks having a social in a place that has both veg and non veg dishes but can't understand the advertisement of things that are counter to what a vegetarian society represents.
Am I missing something here?
Bruce Costain
Nashville, TN
.
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